People v. Thomas CA6

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. MOTION TO SUPPRESS

In his motion to suppress, Thomas argued there was no probable cause for his arrest, which occurred without a warrant after he exited his vehicle in a Safeway parking lot in Santa Clara. Thomas sought to suppress the evidence seized as a result, including $2,474 found on his person and 123.0 grams of suspected methamphetamine found in his vehicle. The People contended in their written opposition that the arrest was supported by probable cause obtained from an informant’s tip as corroborated by independent police investigation. At the outset of the suppression hearing, however, the trial court stated the scope of its inquiry was whether the corroborated tip was sufficient “for the initial detention of Mr. Thomas.” Following the presentation of evidence, the trial court indicated it would find that an arrest and not a detention had occurred. The prosecutor contested the trial court’s finding and argued that the question before the court was whether there were sufficient predictive factors based on the tip and police corroboration to support a detention, not an arrest. The prosecutor further argued that…